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The Rediff Special/Syed Firdaus Ashraf

A tourist paradise in the shadow of the gun

Yeh chand sa roshan chehra, zulfonka rang sunehera, the song from the film Kashmir ki Kali will be recalled by any Hindi film music buff. Few may remember that the song was shot on the Dal Lake, Srinagar. But Ghulam Rasool, a shikara (houseboat) owner on the lake, can never forget it. He saw the shoot when Shammi Kapoor danced and twirled around Sharmila Tagore.

That was in the 1960s. Today, Rasool, 65, takes his shikara to Dal Lake almost every day but there is no Shammi Kapoor, no Sharmila Tagore, no new film shoots and no tourists.

"Tourism and film shooting in Kashmir has collapsed, sir," he tells me as he paddles along the lake. "There was a time in the '80s when people had to take an appointment with me. But today nobody bothers to visit our paradise."

As the clouds gets misty, the shikara reaches Char Chinari, a small island in the middle of the lake. It is fully manned by Border Security Force personnel.

"There used to be a hotel on Char Chinari, but that was blasted by militants," Rasool says with sadness.

"The militants used to camp here at night and fire rocket launchers. That is why we are stationed here permanently," says a BSF officer.

From Char Chinari, the Hazratbal shrine and the tomb of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Sheikh Abdullah (father of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah) is visible in the distance. A closer look with binoculars reveals security personnel guarding these places.

Not far away at Lal Chowk is a taxi stand. Here Abdul Karim's future is also as uncertain as Rasool's. A proud owner of six tourist cars once, he is making ends meet with only one today.

"I never imagined that things would be so bad," he says. "And I am not the only one suffering. Almost everybody's business has suffered because of militancy."

"There used to be thousands of people wanting to go to Pahalgam, Gulmarg and other tourist destinations from Srinagar. But now, hardly anybody comes."

The number of tourists has dropped alarmingly in the last 12 years: (see graph)

• In 1988, there were 662,097 Indian tourists and 59,938 foreign tourists. An all-time high of 722,035 since Independence.
• In 1989, there were 490,212 Indians and 67,762 foreigners, bringing the total to 557,977 when the militancy began.
• In 1990, the figures fell drastically, with only 10,722 tourists overall.
• It fell to an all-time low of 6,287 in 1991.
• In the last two years things have started looking up. In 1998 nearly 109,883 tourists visited the valley. In 1999, despite the Kargil war, nearly 217,292 tourists came.
• But this year again, things have started looking bleak as only 19,773 tourists visited J&K till May.

Says Dheeraj Shah, a Bombay-based businessman who has brought his family, "I don't think militancy is a problem because I am moving about freely. In fact, the locals welcome you here."

But is he not scared of militancy? "When I first arrived in Srinagar, there was fear. But now everything seems normal," says Shah.

Agrees Leena Borkar, another tourist from Pune: "The presence of military men makes this different from other tourist places. But in Pune, I am so used to seeing army people that I find no difference."

And what about militancy? "Yes, somewhere in the back of my mind, there is fear. My in-laws in Pune are worried too. So I call them every evening," she adds.

Interestingly, the Jammu & Kashmir government is making all efforts to woo the tourists back. They are working on some kind of alliance with Indian Airlines and Jet Airways to offer discounts. But nothing concrete has emergdd as the airlines say their flights are running at almost 80 per cent capacity.

Says M Ashraf, director general, department of tourism, J&K, "The meetings with the airlines have not been fruitful as they say that the Srinagar route gives them good business. So there is no way they will offer tourist discounts."

Apart from that the government is taking local travel agents and hoteliers to different parts of country to participate in tourism exhibitions. "We have also released advertisements in national newspapers offering discounted travel to J&K," adds Ashraf. "Statistics show that most tourists come from Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal," he adds.

In the last ten years there have been only three or four incidents of attacks on tourists, say officials. The worst was the kidnapping of five foreign nationals by the Al-Faran group.

Ashraf claims that the media factually report the situation in the valley. "Even if there is a blast in Jammu, the byline of reporters in any newspaper is from Srinagar. This happens because most journalists stay in Srinagar,"

Though it seems that Kashmir's economy is in turmoil, the locals are not that grim. According to them, a majority of the population depends on agriculture. Then comes horticulture, handicrafts and finally tourism.

"Tourism has the potential to become the number one source of revenue. But unfortunately, it is lagging behind because of militancy," adds Ashraf.

Banks in the state are also pitching in by offering locals soft loans to start businesses. They have already distributed nearly Rs 250 million in the last two years.

Says Fayaz Ahmed, a houseboat owner, "There are nearly 1,200 houseboats in Srinagar. And everyone is losing money. There seems no end to our grief."

Business in the 70 hotels, including three five-star hotels, has also fallen. Film shootings, another source of income, too had stopped for a long time. Boney Kapoor recently shot Pukar in the valley. Now Vidhu Vinod Chopra is shooting Mission Kashmir with Bollywood's latest heartthrob Hrithik Roshan.

Things may be looking up, but a single explosion brings back dreaded memories of militancy. And it means another long wait for people like Ghulam Rasool.

The Rediff Specials

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